The Braves didn’t exactly cash in on last year’s disappointment, but one small move from that deadline is suddenly looking like a steal.
When Atlanta was sliding out of playoff contention in 2024, the expectation was that the club would sell off pieces and reload. Instead, the Braves mostly held tight.
The only player they moved was Rafael Montero, who was likely headed for a DFA anyway. In return, they got shortstop Jim Jarvis.
At the time, that looked like a tidy bit of business. Now it looks even better.
Montero gave Atlanta 36 appearances last season and finished with a 5.50 ERA, so getting anything back for him was already a win. But Jarvis has turned that throw-in into something far more interesting. With Ha-Seong Kim’s signing becoming an abject disaster - he’s played in only a handful of games and has just five hits in 73 at-bats - and Ronald Acuña Jr.’s injury pushing Mauricio Dubon into the outfield, Jarvis has gotten a real chance to stick.
He’s taken it.
Jarvis delivered two more hits last night, including a go-ahead double in the eighth inning, and he’s now hitting over .300 with an .826 OPS across 16 major-league games. That’s a tiny sample, sure, but the performance has matched what he showed in Gwinnett. In 76 games there this season, he hit .313 with 29 extra-base hits and an .868 OPS.
The contrast with his time in the Tigers organization makes the rise even more notable. Last year, he posted a .652 OPS in 77 Double-A games, which makes the jump look like real offensive growth rather than a fluke.
And the Braves didn’t even need to talk themselves into the upside. Alex Anthopoulos said he doesn’t want the credit, because it was the scouting department that identified Jarvis in the first place, drawn to his defense and the belief that his bat could improve.
That matters because shortstop has been a problem spot for Atlanta for five years. The club thought it had finally solved it with Kim, but instead it’s been Jarvis - a little-known player who was barely a top-30 prospect entering the season - who has stepped in and started looking like the answer the Braves have been chasing since Dansby Swanson left.
For a team that got so little out of last year’s deadline, this one suddenly looks like a diamond in the rough.
In Other News...
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Smith has given the Braves some offense earlier this season, but his recent stretch has made the conversation more complicated, especially because he does not offer the same defensive versatility as some of the other options. Hicklen can be sent to the minors if Atlanta wants the simplest path, and Smiths presence in the clubhouse could still matter to a team trying to keep its edge while waiting for Acua to return, which is why this decision may take a little longer than the Braves would like. [Read more 🡒]
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The wrinkle is whether Toronto actually decides to sell, because that choice will determine how far this possibility goes. If the Blue Jays do make him available, Atlanta would have a realistic path to a reunion with a pitcher who checks a lot of boxes for a club trying to steady its staff for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Shortstop Void Suddenly Has Two Prospects Forcing The Issue
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Alex Lodise has made the picture even busier. The second-round pick has taken a big step forward at the plate, reaching 20 home runs with an .822 OPS and putting himself in line for a promotion to High-A Rome soon. For a Braves system that has been looking for more certainty up the middle, the timing matters almost as much as the numbers, because two infielders are now making a case at the same time and forcing the club to sort out just how quickly each one should move. [Read more 🡒]